Complete reference for all package manager commands in Ant.
Global Flags
These flags work with most commands:
--verbose - Enable detailed logging of operations-h, --help - Display help for the command
init
Create a new package.json file interactively.
Interactive prompts:
- Package name (defaults to directory name)
- Version (defaults to 1.0.0)
- Entry point (defaults to index.js)
Example output:
ant init
package name (my-project): my-app
version (1.0.0): 1.0.0
entry point (index.js): index.js
+ Created package.json
{
"name": "my-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"type": "module",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"start": "ant index.js"
},
"dependencies": {},
"devDependencies": {}
}
install
Alias: i
Install dependencies from lockfile, or add packages if specified.
ant install # Install from lockfile
ant install express lodash # Add packages
ant install -D typescript # Add as devDependency
ant install -g typescript # Install globally
Package specifications (name[@version]). If omitted, installs from lockfile.
Install packages globally to ~/.ant/pkg/global
Add packages to devDependencies instead of dependencies
- Without arguments: Reads
package.json and ant.lockb, installs exact versions from lockfile
- With packages: Adds packages to
package.json, resolves dependencies, and installs
- No lockfile: Resolves fresh dependency tree and creates
ant.lockb
Example output:
ant install express
ant install v0.1.0 (a1b2c3d)
🔍 Resolving [1/1]
installed [email protected] with binaries:
- express
15 packages installed [2.3s] done
add
Alias: a
Add one or more packages to dependencies.
ant add <package[@version]>... [options]
One or more package specifications:
lodash - Latest version[email protected] - Specific versionlodash@^4.0.0 - Semver range@types/node - Scoped package
Install packages globally to ~/.ant/pkg/global
Add packages to devDependencies
ant add lodash express # Add to dependencies
ant add -D typescript @types/node # Add to devDependencies
ant add lodash@^4.0.0 # Add with version range
ant add -g typescript # Install globally
remove
Alias: rm
Remove packages from dependencies.
ant remove <package>... [-g]
One or more package names to remove
Remove packages from global installation
ant remove lodash # Remove from local dependencies
ant remove lodash express # Remove multiple packages
ant remove -g typescript # Remove global package
ant remove lodash
ant remove v0.1.0 (a1b2c3d)
12 packages installed [1.1s]
- Removed: lodash
update
Alias: up
Re-resolve dependencies and update lockfile.
ant update # Update all packages
ant update [packages...] # Update specific packages
Specific packages to update. If omitted, updates all packages.
- Without arguments: Re-resolves all dependencies based on version ranges in
package.json, updates lockfile
- With packages: Updates specified packages to latest versions matching constraints
Examples:
ant update # Update all packages
ant update express lodash # Update specific packages
ant update [email protected] # Update to specific version
run
Run a script from package.json.
ant run <script> [args...]
ant run # List available scripts
Script name from package.json scripts section. If omitted, lists all scripts.
Arguments to pass to the script. Use -- to separate script args from ant flags.
ant run dev # Run dev script
ant run test -- --coverage # Pass args to script
ant run build # Run build script
ant run dev
$ vite dev
VITE v5.0.0 ready in 234 ms
➜ Local: http://localhost:5173/
ant run
Usage: ant run <script> [args...]
Run a script from package.json
Available scripts:
dev vite dev
build vite build
test vitest run
lint eslint .
exec
Alias: x
Run a command from node_modules/.bin or download temporarily.
ant x [--ant] <command> [args...]
ant x # List available binaries
Run the binary with ant instead of node
Binary name to execute. If omitted, lists all available binaries.
Arguments to pass to the command
ant x tsc --version # Run TypeScript compiler
ant x --ant prettier --write . # Run with ant runtime
ant x create-react-app my-app # Download and run temporarily
- Local
node_modules/.bin/
- Global
~/.ant/pkg/global/node_modules/.bin/
- Temporary download from npm registry
Output:
ant x typescript
🔍 Resolving typescript
Version 5.3.3
why
Alias: explain
Show which packages depend on a given package.
Example:
Output:
Explanation:
- Shows the installed version and type (dev/peer/optional)
- Lists all packages that depend on it
- Shows dependency constraints
info
Show package information from the npm registry.
ant info <package[@version]>
Package specification (name or name@version)
ant info lodash # Info for latest version
ant info [email protected] # Info for specific version
ant info @types/node # Info for scoped package
ant info lodash
[email protected] | MIT | deps: 0 | versions: 112
Lodash modular utilities.
https://lodash.com/
keywords: modules, stdlib, util
dependencies (0):
dist
.tarball: https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash/-/lodash-4.17.21.tgz
.shasum: 679591c564c3bffaae8454cf0b3df370c3d6911c
.integrity: sha512-v2kDEe57lec...
.unpackedSize: 1.41 MB
dist-tags:
latest: 4.17.21
maintainers:
- John-David Dalton <[email protected]>
Published: 2021-02-20T15:49:35.000Z
list
List installed packages.
List global packages instead of local ones
ant ls # List local packages
ant ls -g # List global packages
trust
Run lifecycle scripts for packages.
ant trust [packages...] [--all]
ant trust # List packages needing trust
Package names to trust. If omitted, lists packages with pending scripts.
Trust and run all pending lifecycle scripts
ant trust # Show packages needing trust
ant trust puppeteer # Trust specific package
ant trust --all # Trust all packages
preinstall - Runs before package is installedinstall / postinstall - Runs after package is installedpreuninstall / uninstall / postuninstall - Runs before/after removal
Output:
ant install puppeteer
1 package needs to run lifecycle scripts:
• puppeteer (node install.js)
Run: ant trust <pkg> or ant trust --all
ant trust puppeteer
Added 1 package to trustedDependencies in package.json
Running lifecycle scripts for 1 package...
1 package trusted [823ms]
cache
Manage the package cache.
cache info
Show cache statistics.
Output:
Cache location: ~/.ant/pkg
Packages: 156
Size: 1.23 GB
DB size: 4.12 MB
cache prune
Remove packages older than N days.
Maximum age in days (default: 30)
ant cache prune # Prune packages older than 30 days
ant cache prune 7 # Prune packages older than 7 days
Pruned 23 packages older than 30 days
cache sync
Flush cache database to disk.
Output:
create
Scaffold a new project from a template.
ant create <template> [dest] [...flags]
ant create <github-org/repo> [dest] [...flags]
Template name (npm package) or GitHub repository (org/repo)
Destination directory. Defaults to template/repo name.
- NPM templates: Runs
ant x create-<template> with given arguments
- GitHub repositories: Clones repository contents as template
Examples:
ant create vite my-app # npm: create-vite
ant create react-app my-app # npm: create-react-app
ant create user/template # GitHub: user/template
ant create vite my-app --template react
# Runs: ant x create-vite my-app --template react
ant create vercel/next.js my-app
# Clones: https://github.com/vercel/next.js.git
GITHUB_TOKEN - Supply a token for private repos or higher rate limits
Output:
+ Creating project from vercel/next.js...
Done! Created my-app
cd my-app
ant install